What?

There was a time in my 9th grade Honors English class where I wrote an entry in my Writer's Notebook about some Monarch butterfly I saw at a park. Not too much earlier, my teacher had recommended I read "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek" by Annie Dillard, and I simply fell in love with the book and writing. Now, I wrote this butterfly entry, later turned the notebook in, and got it back with the comment from Mrs. Reuel: "This is Annie Dillard-esque."

I always save comments I get on things, but this is one of very few that has just stuck in my head. Mrs. Reuel gave me plenty of wonderful comments- spoiled me for them, really- and I've held on to every one of them, but most are too long for me to simply remember. That one, though, was very short, to the point, and... I don't know how to explain how wonderful it felt when I read it. To write with the deepness of thought Dillard attains is something I aspire to.

The main key with Dillard is that she knows how to put things into words. I'm horrible at explaining things, but she can touch up on every little thing and show an astounding understanding of it. I want to be able to think, if not write, like that. Her style is not how she orders the words, where she places a sentence (personally, her structures tend to bother me), but that she thinks on and understands things. I want to stick by my usual style, but include this more intense aspect in it.

So for the blog. It's main point is simply to practice observing and writing on my observations. I don't know if people already feel like I do that in my Sparrow's Nest blog, but trust me, this one will be different. More natural, and spared of my rants and irritability. I want to come at things with an open perspective and just watch, think, learn, and write.

Now to begin the project: Attempting Annie Dillard.